2018-03-19T12:52:33ZBarriers to Change: Climate Change Scepticism and Uncertainty in Canadahttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/9459
Barriers to Change: Climate Change Scepticism and Uncertainty in Canada
Pickering, Gary J.
In light of increasing green house gas emissions and severity of climate change impacts, elucidating the psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation behaviour, especially in individuals from industrialised countries with poor mitigation performance, is important. This study sought to establish the extent of climate change scepticism and uncertainty in a representative sample of Anglophone Canadians, and determine the association with values, knowledge and socio-demographic factors. 229 participants responded to a mail invitation to take part in the online survey. Scepticism and uncertainty toward climate change were assessed using an attitudinal index that yielded a composite scepticism score. Environmental values were assessed using a modified version of the New Environmental Paradigm scale (NEP), and political association, climate change knowledge and several demographic variables were determined using established metrics. A full factor multiple regression analysis showed region, NEP score and Conservative Party of Canada association as the significant predictors of scepticism. Further regression modelling showed that values and politics explained 31% of the variation in scepticism scores, socio-demographic variables 6%, and education and knowledge 3%. These findings highlight the dominant role of environmental values and political orientation, and are discussed in the context of the theory of socially-organised denial of climate change and the information-deficit model of climate inaction.
2016-01-01T00:00:00ZResilience in a Watershed Governance Context: A Primerhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/7342
Resilience in a Watershed Governance Context: A Primer
Krievins, Katrina; Baird, Julia; Plummer, Ryan; Brandes, Oliver; Curry, Allen; Imhof, Jack; Mitchell, Simon; Moore, Michele-Lee; Gerger Swartling, Åsa
Watersheds are complex systems involving social, economic, and ecological dimensions that are constantly interacting and influencing each other, and governance of these systems involve a large and diverse cast of actors that add to the complexity and difficulty in deciding what is best for the watershed and people. Resilience thinking offers a way to understand and navigate the uncertainty, dynamics and complexity of watershed governance. This primer describes key ideas associated with resilience: more inclusive participation; building a shared understanding; inclusion of ecosystem services and functions in long-term planning; strong leadership; institutional and decision making flexibility; and, a decentralized system. This primer is an initial effort to translate the scholarly understanding of these key ideas and initiate a dialogue about their application in the context of watershed governance.
2015-10-01T00:00:00ZResilience: An Annotated Bibliographyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/5239
Resilience: An Annotated Bibliography
Krievins, Katrina; Plummer, Ryan; Baird, Julia
This annotated bibliography provides an account of the research that has been done on engineering resilience, ecological resilience, and social-ecological resilience. Undertaken as part of the WEPGN research project titled “Applying resilience analysis to a transboundary river system: Developing surrogates for institutions and governance”, this annotated bibliography investigates factors that lead to greater resilience, with a focus on institutions and governance. Citations for key scholarly publications related to three types of resilience – engineering, ecological, and social-ecological – are listed in the first three sections along with a brief summary of each work. The fourth and final section of the document provides additional resources on resilience.
2014-03-18T00:00:00ZPower, Contextual Intelligence and Leadership: Research Approaches for Understanding Participatory Community Climate Change Adaptationhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/5120
Power, Contextual Intelligence and Leadership: Research Approaches for Understanding Participatory Community Climate Change Adaptation
May, Bradley K
Analysis of power in natural resources management is important as multiple stakeholders
interact within complex, social-ecological systems. As a sub-set of these interactions,
community climate change adaptation is increasingly using participatory processes to
address issues of local concern. While some attention has been paid to power relations in
this respect, e.g. evaluating international climate regimes or assessing vulnerability as
part of integrated impact assessments, little attention has been paid to how a structured
assessment of power could facilitate real adaptation and increase the potential for
successful participatory processes. This paper surveys how the concept of power is
currently being applied in natural resources management and links these ideas to agency
and leadership for climate change adaptation. By exploring behavioural research on
destructive leadership, a model is developed for informing participatory climate change
adaptation. The working paper then concludes with a discussion of developing research
questions in two specific areas - examining barriers to adaptation and mapping the
evolution of specific participatory processes for climate change adaptation.
2013-11-19T00:00:00Z